


Edited File

by oh_kathryn_my_captain



Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Love Letters, Romance, Secret Admirer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-10
Updated: 2014-11-10
Packaged: 2018-02-24 22:10:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2598227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oh_kathryn_my_captain/pseuds/oh_kathryn_my_captain
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kathryn finds a letter in her ready room that isn't part of the daily ship report...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Minor Miracle

**Author's Note:**

> My first fanfic ever so be kind. Of course there's J/C.
> 
> Disclaimer: Voyager is the property of Paramount. I'm not trying to take credit for this amazing show.

_My dearest Kathryn,_   
_I could never think or even hope to think that you feel as I do. We work together every single day and the thought always crosses my mind how beautiful you are. You may have noticed me staring but that doesn't matter now. I love you, Kathryn Janeway, since the day we first met. And it seems that after this long, I always will._   
_Of course I don't expect you to reciprocate. I've just gotten so damned tired of this friendship. It feels like we could be so much more, mean so much more to each other. I wish you would let me in. Perhaps it wouldn't be as great a risk as you think._

_Loyally Yours,_

 

He paused and took in a deep sigh.

"Computer, erase recording."

He reluctantly went to sleep.

 

Chakotay knew he had to get to the bridge for his shift so he hurried up to get his uniform on and walked out of his quarters.

Kathryn was already there, of course. She was always early. Today something was different though. She wasn't glowing.

As a matter of fact, when he said good morning, she didn't even make eye contact.

So work continued on as it usually did, but Chakotay got the message and didn't press the issue of what seemed off about the captain. Maybe he would talk to her about it later at their dinner.

A few hours later the shift ended. Kathryn tried to bolt out the door and onto the turbo lift but before the doors could close,

Chakotay took his place at her side. He commanded the computer to bring them to their deck and silence fell.

"Are we still on for tonight?" He asked.

"I don't know. I have a lot of work to do."

"Ever think of taking a break?"

"Do you know me at all, commander?" she asked, a sideways smirk appearing on her face. There was the Kathryn he knew.

The doors opened and they exited side by side, strutting down the corridors.

"In all seriousness, Kathryn, is there something bothering you? You hardly even said a word to me all day."

She turned her head and sighed.

"Nothing is necessarily wrong, it's just..."

Chakotay put his hand on her shoulder to keep her from getting away as he stopped and turned towards her.

"Kathryn, you know you can trust me with anything."

She nodded and looked around, almost paranoid.

"Let's talk in my quarters. It seems as though you will be getting that dinner date, Chakotay."

 _Date?_ he thought, laughing to himself.

She took the arm that he offered her and they walked together until they reached Kathryn's quarters. He replicated some food and she set the table with the candles she saved in the drawer.

"So," Chakotay said, pulling out her chair for her, "what's going on?"

He sat down across from her, paying complete attention to her response.

"Well, I walked into my ready room this morning like I usually do to see the pile of reports I had to go through when I saw something on my personal monitor. It was a note."

"What kind of note?"

"I know this is kind of crazy, but I think it was...it was a love note."

Chakotay's heart stopped, remembering the note he had prepared yesterday.

"Who was it from?"

"Now, that's what's been bothering me. It wasn't signed and I don't have any idea who it could've been."

He let out an inaudible sigh of relief.

"Sounds to me you have the opposite of a problem."

"That's what I tried to tell myself at first. But it is really going to kill me that there's something going on on this ship that I don't know about."

"What are you going to do about that note?"

"I suppose I can't do anything. I tried tracing it but didn't get anywhere. It was almost as if someone put it in my monitor without going through the usual process like how you normally send reports. But they would've had to have been in my ready room to do that and the security logs showed..."

"It sounds like you're very determined to catch this person."

"I just can't stand the mystery of it all. But I suppose there's nothing I can do about it. Except..."  
Kathryn paused, deep in thought.

"I could send them a message back."

"How?"

"Well, I could add on to the already existing file and they could use their security code to open the file after they see an addition has been made."

"Sounds like a plan. What do you think you are going to say?"

"That," she said, placing her elbows on the table, "I'll have to think about."

They had finished eating and Chakotay thanked her for a wonderful evening. Then, he hurried back to his quarters and sat at his monitor, waiting and perhaps even hoping that his letter was the one that somehow made it to her ready room.

Time passed, minutes, an hour. But he really hadn't noticed. He just sat for all that time until finally, the security notification that something had been added to his file popped up on his screen.

 

 _Dear anonymous crew member,_  
I didn't know anyone felt this way about me. I'm not sure what I can do about it, however, since I'm not aware of your real identity. Perhaps you can speak to me in person and we can discuss this face to face.  
~Captain Kathryn Janeway

 

Chakotay couldn't help but smile a bit. Somehow, someway, the letter he deleted from the computer ended up in the captain's possession, exactly where he had meant it to go. All of his tracks were erased and he was actually able to finally talk to Kathryn about their relationship. Of course she automatically went for the diplomatic angle.

 

_Captain, believe this or not, that letter wasn't supposed to actually get sent. Now that it has though, I intend to make full use of this random occurrence. I would prefer to remain anonymous as revealing my identity might harm further interactions between the two of us. I am going to allow you to make the decision: would you rather continue this chat or completely forget any of this ever happened?  
~the anonymous crew member_

 

Chakotay read over it again. Nodding, he saved the changes to his file. Now all he needed was the same miracle to happen twice and the file would end up on Kathryn's personal monitor once more.


	2. Change of Heart

The next day, the command team stepped on the bridge as usual. It was, again, a long day. Kathryn was obviously troubled and Chakotay silently cursed himself. He didn't mean for this to be so hard on her.

"How are you this morning, Captain?"

Her glazed look vanished.

"To tell you the truth, I'm a little tired. I guess I'll need more than a few hours of sleep tonight."

"I was asking more along the lines of a certain secret admirer," Chakotay smirked, his voice low so none of the crew could hear.

"Oh you're not going to let that go, are you? Actually, I hadn't even gotten around to checking if this 'secret admirer' has gotten back to me."

"I can handle the bridge," he winked.

Kathryn rolled her eyes and stood up , heading for her ready room. She stayed in there a few minutes and Chakotay began to feel hopeful that his message had gotten through. Soon, she returned and sat back in her chair.

"Well?" he asked.

"No signature, again."

"Did you respond?"

She looked away, trying to keep from smiling.

"In that case," he said with his dimples in full force, "I hope you two are very happy together."

The rest of his shift was spent in anticipation for its end. He was putting on a good show and was certain Kathryn didn't suspect a thing. Everything was going so perfectly, he continued to question if it was a dream.

His shift ended and he walked, as usual, with Kathryn to their adjoining rooms. They said goodbye and he hurried off to his desk and sure enough, the edited file alert was on his monitor.

 

_Dear crew member, I would be happy to maintain communications. But you do understand that as captain, I am bound by protocol to avoid relationships with any of my crew. I still wish you would reveal your identity. The mystery is rather getting on my nerves._

 

Chakotay chuckled to himself. If they had been talking face to face, Kathryn would've kicked him off the ship by now.

 

_Captain, I was hoping you might change your mind after we talked for some time. But now I can't seem to find anything to talk about. The only thing I can think of is to tell you how beautiful you are. You are beautiful. You know that don't you? I'm sorry but I can't help but hope you can drop the protocols one day so that I won't get on your nerves with mysterious letters._

 

He saved the changes again and was about to get up when the alert showed again on his monitor.

 

_Dear crew member, You have no idea how much and how many times I wish it were that simple to abandon my responsibilities._

_And thank you for calling me beautiful._

 

The pattern continued on and off, back and forth for days. It was almost a week, actually. Chakotay always keeping his cool and acting as Kathryn's loyal first officer when they were on the bridge.

"So, commander," Kathryn sat in her chair, "dinner tonight?"

"I should be free."

"Good. We may have a few things to discuss."

Chakotay raised his eyebrows contemplating exactly what she might mean.

There had been whispers of a security breach by this time; a crew member was able to create a file out of thin air and leave absolutely no trace as to who it was. It was not taken as a threat, however, because there were also whispers of the Captain who was on the receiving end of the files. And she has done nothing about it.

"See you at 1900?" Chakotay asked.

"20 minutes, got it."

He took his usual place at his monitor to check if his file had been updated recently. Nothing had changed. It wasn't like it never happened. It just didn't happen often when he found that Kathryn hadn't responded.

20 minutes passed by and his door chime rang.

"Come."

Kathryn entered in her usual, prideful manner with her head high as if trying to be taller than she actually was. Chakotay was almost ready to be seated at the table when she held up her hands to stop him.

"Before dinner, I think there's something we need to discuss."

Chakotay's heart skipped a beat. He couldn't imagine what possible reason she could have for wanting to talk to him unless...

"Would you mind sitting on the couch? It would be more comfortable," she offered.

They each took a seat relatively close to each other, but not close enough ifor Chakotay.

"So, what's on your mind?"

"You remember my secret admirer, the one you're so fond of."

"How could I forget?"

His stomach churned in anticipation for what she was getting at.

"There's been a change in the file," she began."It recently became traceable."

Chakotay looked away from her. Whatever mysterious force that caused the miracle of the untraceable message system had abandoned him now.

"Oh, Chakotay, how could I have thought it was anyone else?"

He blinked in surprise at her light attitude towards the situation.

"You're not mad?"

"I couldn't be mad at you."

"And what do you propose we do now?" he turned to face her.

"We need to put this behind us."

"You mean forget it ever happened."

"Maybe it's for the best."

"I'm sorry, Kathryn, but you admitted a few days ago that you wish you could abandon protocol. May I ask why?"

She shifted a little, uncomfortably.

"It's like you want to deny our feelings every time we get close enough to express them," he pressed.

There was a long pause. Long enough for Kathryn to reevaluate all of the barriers she had put up over the years.

"You're right."

Her simple answer shocked him.

"You're absolutely right. And maybe it's time we do express them."

Chakotay kept his eyes fixed on her, unsure of what she meant.

She looked back at him

"Do you think we'd be moving too fast if I kissed you?" she asked.

"I think it's about time you did."

It was her who closed the rather large gap between them. The kiss was everything he ever imagined.

"Should we tell the crew?" he wondered out loud.

"That depends."

"On what?"

"On who you think should win the betting pool."

She grabbed his uniform jacket and pulled him in again. They were silently grateful for whatever caused the deleted message to find its way to Kathryn's monitor.

 

              

* * *

* * *

 

 

Both were awake by the time the alarm for their shift went off. Neither were in a hurry. It was Chakotay who first stood up, leaving Kathryn in bed. A notification appeared on his monitor.

 

_You owe me one, Chuckles._

_~Q_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it as I am very new at this sort of thing and admittedly out of practice. Any feedback is welcome.
> 
> (And I'm sorry it ended abruptly. As I said I'm very new at this.)


End file.
